Big Brass? Hut Dugging.

[JDug]

I dug this at about 1' deep over a CW hut site that was 3' deep. Is it period brass or some kind of motor fitting?

 

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[Tony in SC]

Looks a base plate for an early carbeurator? Tony

 

[JDug]

Looks a base plate for an early carbeurator? Tony

That makes sense, were they brass?

 

[cheese]

I don't know what it is, but it's not the base of a carburetor. Really odd looking. I see impressions where bolts were. The odd shaped holes must have a purpose, but I can't think of what in the world...

 

[HutSiteDigger]

Almost looks similar to a bullet gauge like in the photo, which is a .58 and .69 caliber brass bullet gauge. I don't know though CannonBallGuy would know. The one you have is huge, never seen anything like it.

 

[JDug]

Almost looks similar to a bullet gauge like in the photo, which is a .58 and .69 caliber brass bullet gauge. I don't know though CannonBallGuy would know. The one you have is huge, never seen anything like it.

Cannonball guy knows everything doesn't he. If its period your pic is pretty close.

 

[clovis97]

I think it is a carb base plate or throttle plate. Most likely off of an early car or possibly a tractor, but I doubt it was a tractor.

I think the brass construction helps keep the back firing to a minimum.

 

[QUICKSILVER (appletree)]

I am going to go with a clock plate

 

[HutSiteDigger]

Cannonball guy knows everything doesn't he. If its period your pic is pretty close.

If that was meaning "the one in the photo is period" yes, the photo is out of Stanley Philips book. I have seen these bullet gauges before but nothing the size of the one you dug, though it looks like they are made out of same thickness brass and the holes look similar ... Since you dug this in a hut with other cw artifacts, it is possible this is some sort of gauge or something in that nature but i can tell you, in some huts you can find post war relics even at 3-4 feet deep, some huts weren't torn down by the property owners and covered over til like the 1880s and by then hunters,etc etc might have thrown junk in the hut or even used some for a post war deer/bird hunting blinds or even a kids play spot (i kid you not) i have dug some of the oddest post war relics from the 1880s-1920s in hut sites before, 3 feet down and surrounded with cw artifacts.

Some of the huts were so well built, that property owners tore down most of the huts, but then left one or two up for a shed type building and some of the Union Officers and Generals huts were built so good that that some black people lived in them after the war for a couple years. But most were filled in with dirt by property owners and torn down at least by the early 1870s, but also lot of huts were left unattended and sat there for many many years before being torn down and covered up.

I am fully enjoying seeing what you're glory hole is producing lately, it really is special to have a spot like that these days, i only have a couple good spots left and each time back it just gets more harder and harder to the point where it will all be gone soon.

Creskol or CBG may be the one to ask on this one, i would seriously like to know myself...

 

[DCMatt]

I am going to go with a clock plate

DCMatt

 

[cudamark]

Not a carb plate. I agree with quicksilver and dcmatt, probably from a big clock, used to hold all the gears, shafts, springs, etc, together.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

JDug wrote:
> Cannonball guy knows everything doesn't he.

No, I don't. It's just an illusion I've (unintentionally) created by only answering questions I already know the answer to. ;-)

This object is proof that I can't ID everythng. At "first glance" of the photo I immediately thought clock-part frame, because it does resemble one. But, as the photo posted by DCMatt shows, the main body of clock-part frames are a square, a rectangle, a circle, or (very rarely) triangular with a curved bottom. This object's body does not match any of that geometric patterns.

Also, some of the holes in it show the imprint of heavy bolts or nuts, which are not needed in clocks. A clock's guts are not heavy enough to require heavy-duty nuts/bolts. Nor are they subjected to repetitive "serious" vibration, like a carburetor or other engine-part is. If it's from a clock, it must have been from really heavy one.

Another curious aspect of this object is the presence of the square-cornered "notch-out" on its left edge. Don't see that sort of thing on clockwork-frames.

The only other things I can say about it:
1- It does "more closely" resemble a carburetor component or other engine component than anything else I'm familiar with.
2- Being at least 1/8-inch thick, it seems to have been made for some kind of heavy-duty service.